Elizabeth Lemhouse ’21

Unity College Alum, Elizabeth, works as a Tidepool Ambassador Guide with the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve on the central Oregon Coast.

“I graduated from Unity College Distance Education in August 2021 with a Wildlife Conservation degree. At the beginning of the summer of 2021, I got a job being a Tidepool Ambassador Guide with the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve on the central Oregon Coast.

Being a Tidepool Ambassador Guide has allowed me to share what conservation is being done on the marine reserve and how the marine reserve has been successful since being formed and what is happening now. As a Tidepool Guide, I take people out on tours and talk to the public during minus and low tides during the summer, spring, and fall showing different tidepool creatures and marine plants and teaching them about it in three locations. During the winter we work on picking dates and information for the next tours in the spring. I talk about sea star wasting disease, climate change, what the creatures eat, how the creatures and plants are important to the tidepool. Tidepool creatures include Orche Sea Stars, nudibranch, blue porcelain crab, baby giant pacific octopus, seaweed, and giant green sea anemones to name a few.

Unity College has benefited me in this career through the classes I took. A few courses I enjoyed were the Identification and Life History of Mammals and Birds course, the Identification of Plant course, and the photography course. These courses have helped me in my career. Going out in the field to id plants, birds, and mammals helped me learn how to look for certain features in order to learn what the creature or plant can be identified as. During these courses, I went out in the field to id plants and animals in the tidepool and forest ecosystem. Using the skills I learned in the photography class, I am able to take photos of the tidepools and their creatures to share with the tours and the public.

The biggest benefit from Unity college for my role as a Tidepool Ambassador Guide is learning about conservation and how to present it to the public. Doing the Wildlife Conservation degree with Unity was great.”